She is a BUSY gal. Her boyfriend is a busy guy. And my oh my, we had to work very hard to get our schedules to align just perfectly. So you can imagine my worry when I saw a huge chance for rain on the very afternoon we were slated to shoot…outdoors…atop Mount Bonnell in Austin, TX. We pushed up our start time as much as we could to avoid the rain and darkness and I think we finished our session just in the “nick” of time!

She is such a lovely young lady and so patient climbing around through the rocks in high heels. And her beau was such the gentleman. I quite enjoyed working with them as a couple. They are good together. I am very excited to see what the future holds in store for her…and him…and the two of them together.

Still my fav (her idea!).

Graduating high school seniors, Class of 2015: NOW is the time to schedule your senior portrait photo session. Please, please don’t wait until next spring as my calendar fills up so quickly. Contact me ASAP for more info!

This entire session felt like it could have been oil on canvas, really. Which is entirely suiting as she is an artist herself (I spy one of her works in these images, actually). She is a senior in high school, yet she is completely sure of who she is and the person she wants to become…she doesn’t even have to say it. Her eyes speak it.

I could relive this session over and over again and it would still be just as refreshing and invigorating as it was that evening. There is an unexplainable magic in the air when you are able to collaborate with people who contribute so much to and can somehow share your vision at the same time.  Photographer’s high.

Another image HERE and then see my FAV larger HERE.

Good luck, S, as you wrap up your final year of high school. I have no doubt great things are in store for you.

Class of 2015 – Juniors currently enrolled in Austin-area schools (Westlake, Georgetown, Round Rock, Plugerville, Lake Travis, etc.): NOW is the time to schedule your senior portrait session. I will be starting these sessions in December of this year through April of 2015. Do not wait! If you want images in time for your graduation, that window will close before you know it.

[As always, perfect hair and makeup by Katie at Modern Muse Beauty].

I mean seriously? How did we get so lucky to have a gorgeous, spring-like day in December last year? Especially considering that we were already getting ice??? But we definitely lucked out and I was THRILLED to get to take these photos for such a lovely and kind and confident young lady. And the fact that we got to work with her horse just made it all the more personal and beautiful!
We will start scheduling senior pictures for Austin seniors in December of this year (2014) through February-March of 2015, so again, you want to get on my calendar ASAP.

P.S. Another image from this session can be found HERE.

I was blessed to be able to photograph both his older sister’s and his older brother’s senior portraits and something came up last year that threatened our chances of continuing this tradition. Which is why this session meant the world to me. Which is why THIS image is one of my favorites. Which is why I am always grateful for any chance I get to have pictures taken with my own family. Which is why I do what I do. XOXO, M. You inspire me and your children are amazing extensions of the incredibly wonderful, giving, loving person that you are.

She is the daughter of my husband’s cousin. When she was little, she had these long, beautiful, caramel and chocolate ringlets of hair and I’d watch as my husband’s father helped her feed the fish in the pond in his backyard. I must have been newly married back then and I remember hoping that I would someday have a daughter with long hair and my husband’s father could help her feed the fish in the pond in his backyard.

Some wishes do come true, and sometimes, they don’t always play out like you imagined them. My husband’s dad did get to spend a few years with his grandchildren, but not quite as many as I had hoped for.

It was my honor to see this little lady again to take her senior portraits. We are all very proud of the beautiful, confident young lady she has become (Pop/Uncle Virgil, included).

XOXO, my dear! {Another image can be found HERE and check out the Waterlogue app version of one of these images HERE}.

His mama first contacted me about doing his senior portraits back in December of 2012. She had me at “I want to put a piano in a creek.” I told her find me a piano and it will be done. And she found me a piano that has been sitting on my porch for close to a year. I cannot even begin to tell you how HEAVY that thing is and it’s a true miracle that we got it loaded to come to my place. For one reason or another (like FLOODS and ICE), we kept having to reschedule his session, but when the day finally came, when the stars aligned and the weather cooperated and the creek wasn’t rushing and the wonderful piano moving volunteers’ schedule aligned with ours–well, it was just AWESOME! You should have seen the looks we were getting as they pushed the piano down a sidewalk and right INTO the water. People were coming in from all over the place just to sit down and say they played the piano in the creek.

But no one could play it quite like he did. Even grossly out of tune and missing several keys, he was still able to make that piano sound good. He’s quite the talented musician and I’m just so thrilled we were finally able to make this session happen for him and for his very diligent mommy. It was truly a magical day!

[To see a “snow” version, go HERE and one HERE].

And even then, she was still just as quietly confident as she is now! I was so very excited to have the opportunity to capture this monumental time in her life (in her parents’ lives, too!). They have every reason to be proud of her! She’s going to do just fine out in the real world!

P.S. So my editor asked me if I’d seen it in one of the images from her session. No…I hadn’t, but I’m glad she did. What is it?

I will admit I was a little nervous when her mom booked her senior portraits with me. It wasn’t all that long ago when I did her sister’s high school senior pictures and as these girls are very different from one another, I wanted to make certain we did a session that was very much aligned with her personality and her unique talents and abilities. I was elated leaving her session in downtown Austin that morning because I *knew* we did just that. She nailed it and she was so wonderful to bring her own vision to the session, helping me show her personality through her pictures. Couldn’t resist that last one…the minute she held her guitars up like this, her big sis started doing the little cartoon voices for the “angel” and “devil” guitars and we cracked up!!

There are 34 entries in the running to become the 2013 Pinkle’s Pic of the Year. These images were selected by the clients themselves for your consideration to become finalists. Here’s how it works:

ROUND ONE – NOW thru midnight central on Feb 5th

• This year, you will have THREE chances to vote!
  1. The poll below
  2. “Liking” your favorites on this official Pinkle Toes Instagram page (to view all of the entries, search the hashtag #pinkletoesPOY13Round1).
  3. “Liking” your favorites on this official Pinkle Toes Facebook gallery
• You can vote for more than one image AND you can vote in ALL of these three places, but you can only vote one time.

On Feb 6th, 10 finalists will be announced here and on Facebook, selected as follows:

1. The top TWO images from this online poll.
2. The top TWO images from the official Pinkle Toes Facebook gallery (if already selected in the online poll, we’ll move on to the next image)
3. The top TWO images from the official Pinkle Toes Instagram page (if already selected in the online poll or Facebook, we’ll move on to the next image)
4. TWO images selected by a panel of professional photographer judges
5. TWO images selected by me. I may even throw in a few surprise images just for fun.

These two were perfect together. And the best way to tell that the weather was quite brisk that day was to notice how frisky her horse was being that cool evening ;-). I can’t imagine a better way to celebrate the milestone of your senior year in high school than to document the things you love to do in a customized photo shoot like this. Everything we imagined we would do that night we were able to bring to fruition. Here’s another image that I just LOVED, too. Congrats, L, on your upcoming graduation!!!!!